Article 308 of the Penal Code

  Penal Code

1. Anyone who obtains subsidies or aid from Public Administrations, including the European Union, in an amount or for a value greater than one hundred thousand euros by falsifying the conditions required for its granting or hiding those that would have prevented it will be punished with the penalty of imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of one to six times the amount, unless the reimbursement referred to in section 6 is carried out.

2. The same penalties will be imposed on anyone who, in the development of an activity financed in whole or in part with funds from public administrations, including the European Union, applies them in an amount greater than one hundred thousand euros for purposes other than those for which they were intended. the subsidy or aid was granted, unless the reimbursement referred to in section 6 is carried out.

3. In addition to the aforementioned penalties, the person responsible will be subject to the loss of the possibility of obtaining public subsidies or aid and the right to enjoy tax or Social Security benefits or incentives for a period of three to six years.

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4. If the amount obtained, defrauded or improperly applied does not exceed one hundred thousand euros but exceeds ten thousand, a prison sentence of three months to one year or a fine of one to three times the aforementioned amount and the loss of the possibility of obtaining subsidies or public aid and the right to enjoy tax or Social Security benefits or incentives during the period of six months to two years, unless the reimbursement referred to in section 6 is carried out.

5. For the purposes of determining the amount referred to in this article, the total amount obtained, defrauded or improperly applied will be taken into account, regardless of whether it comes from one or several Public Administrations jointly.

6. The refund referred to in sections 1, 2 and 4 will be deemed to have been made when the recipient of the subsidy or aid proceeds to return the subsidies or aid improperly received or applied, increased by the default interest applicable in matters of subsidies from the moment in which they were received, and is carried out before the initiation of verification or control actions in relation to said subsidies or aid has been notified or, in the event that such actions have not occurred, before that the Public Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney or the representative of the autonomous or local Administration in question, files complaint either complaint against the person directed or before the Public Prosecutor's Office or the investigating judge carry out actions that allow him to have formal knowledge of the initiation of proceedings. The reimbursement will prevent said subject from being prosecuted for possible instrumental falsehoods that, exclusively in relation to the debt subject to regularization, he could have committed prior to the regularization of his situation.

7. The existence of criminal proceedings for any of the crimes in sections 1, 2 and 4 of this article will not prevent the competent Administration from demanding the reimbursement through administrative means of subsidies or aid improperly applied. The amount that must be reimbursed will be understood to be provisionally set by the Administration, and will then be adjusted to what is finally resolved in the criminal process.

The criminal procedure will not paralyze the collection action of the Administration, which may initiate actions aimed at collection unless the judge, ex officio or at the request of a party, has agreed to suspend the execution actions after providing a guarantee. If the guarantee cannot be provided in whole or in part, exceptionally the judge may agree to the suspension with total or partial waiver of guarantees if he or she finds that the execution could cause irreparable damage or damage that would be very difficult to repair.

8. Judges and courts may impose a sentence lower by one or two degrees to the person responsible for this crime, provided that, before two months have passed since the judicial summons as an investigator, he carries out the reinstatement referred to in section 6. and judicially recognize the facts. The above will be equally applicable with respect to other participants in the crime other than the person liable for reinstatement or the perpetrator of the crime, when they actively collaborate to obtain decisive evidence for the identification or capture of other responsible parties, for the complete clarification of the criminal acts or for the investigation of the assets of the obligor or the person responsible for the crime.

art 308 cp

Article 308 of Penal Code Spanish refers to the obtaining subsidies or aid of the Public Administrations by falsifying the conditions required for its granting or hiding those that would have prevented it.